China's Three Gorges hits full capacity

 　　YICHANG, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's Three Gorges¹ Dam on Sunday reached its designed highest mark, the second time for the world's largest water control and hydropower project to run at full capacity.

　　The water level hit 175 meters at 5 p.m. after storing water for nearly two months from the water level of 152 meters, said an official with the China Three Gorges Project Corporation (CTGPC), the developer of the project.

　　A dozen hydropower turbo-generator units started operation on Sunday, generating power capacity of 8.2 million kw, said the official.

　　The dam in central China's Hubei Province completed its first full-capacity test last October.

　　Operating at full capacity should give full play to the dam's functions of generating hydroelectric power, delivering water to the lower reaches to alleviate² spring droughts, and containing water from summer flooding, as required by the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

　　The Three Gorges Project was launched in 1993 with a budget equivalent to 22.5 billion U.S. dollars.

　　So far, monitoring shows the dam is operating smoothly³.

1 gorges   

n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕

参考例句：

• The explorers were confronted with gorges(that were)almost impassable and rivers(that were)often unfordable. 探险人员面临着几乎是无路可通的峡谷和常常是无法渡过的河流。 来自辞典例句
• We visited the Yangtse Gorges last summer. 去年夏天我们游历了长江三峡。 来自辞典例句

2 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

3 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。